In The Color Purple, there are only two main characters; Celie and Nettie. The story is told from Celie's point of view with letters to God, while Nelly tells her part in letters from Africa to Celie. They are sisters with Celie being the oldest; Nettie, the youngest. The story is told while the girls are growing up, but the majority of the story occurs when Celie is in her mid thirties. Nettie would be in her mid twenties or so. The girls are African-American living on their dad's farm in the south. Their mother died when they were younger and Celie was left to care for her siblings and her father. She was also continuously sexually molosted by her father, giving birth to a boy and girl by him. Even though it hurt her terribly, Celie's father gave the babies away. The father considers Celie to be the "ugly," stupid daughter and Nettie, the beautiful, smart daughter. Celie is married off to an older African-American with children and Nettie is left to live with their father.
Celie is described as a naive, innocent teen at the beginning of the story. She refers to pregnancy as "gittin big." When she became pregnant after her father had molested her, she was removed from school. Everyone was told what a promiscuous girl she was. Celie never stands up for herself and the result was everyone walking all over her. When she lived at home with her father, she had to care for the younger children. After Albert married her, she was basically used as a housekeeper and a nanny. Even though it was the 20th century, Celie was still treated like a slave. Albert beat her for random things, such as fixing the wrong thing for supper or not bringing him something fast enough. The reader later learns he beat her because she wasn't his true love, Shug Avery. Celie learns that the only way to survive is to do exactly what he says and to do it well. As the years pass, Celie begins to believe a wife is supposed to be beaten in order for her to obey her husband.
When Shug is brought to them to get nursed back to health, Albert ceases the almost daily beatings. Around this time, Celie became more independent and realized she should be allowed to do whatever she wanted. Shug taught her how to be a womanand about love and life. Celie eventually was able to tell Albert what was what and left to do her own thing. She starts off as a timid dish rag and blossoms into an independent well-off woman.
Nettie is the beautiful and smart younger sister who tries to teach and protect her older sister. She loved to go to school to learn and then go home to teach everything to Celie. Nettie is kind and loving of all God's creatures. When Albert kicks her out of their house, she goes off in search of Celie's first two children. She ends up at a preacher's house and decides to live there as a nanny. Nettie knows the boy and girl are her sister's children but she keeps this a secret to keep the couple happy. She feels that the best solution is to become a part of this family and to just love the children. When the family decides to become missionaries in Africa, Nettie wants to go with them. During their time there, Nettie and the children become great friends and she reaches out to natives. Nettie is really a loving Cristian woman, with nothing but good in her heart. When the preacher's wife is on her deathbed, Nettie tells the truth about her relationship to the children. She feels sorry about lying to them but she thought it was best to remain anonymous to her niece and nephew in that aspect. The preacher then tells Nettie the truth about her father.Celie and Nettie's real father died in a fire and the man they lived with was really their stepfather. Nettie is confused and hurt by this revelation. Towards the beginning of the story, Nettie a little naive and innocent in her thinking. As the story unfolds, though, she begins to understand life and all the hardships that goes along with it. She also begins to understand that love does exist and it is a wonderful thing.
Both characters began the story as innocent and ignorant girls. By the end, they are well-rounded, hardened and independent women. They learned life-changing lessons and experienced hardships no one should have to endure. The reader can tell these characters are well rounded and evolve throughout the book.
Celie is described as a naive, innocent teen at the beginning of the story. She refers to pregnancy as "gittin big." When she became pregnant after her father had molested her, she was removed from school. Everyone was told what a promiscuous girl she was. Celie never stands up for herself and the result was everyone walking all over her. When she lived at home with her father, she had to care for the younger children. After Albert married her, she was basically used as a housekeeper and a nanny. Even though it was the 20th century, Celie was still treated like a slave. Albert beat her for random things, such as fixing the wrong thing for supper or not bringing him something fast enough. The reader later learns he beat her because she wasn't his true love, Shug Avery. Celie learns that the only way to survive is to do exactly what he says and to do it well. As the years pass, Celie begins to believe a wife is supposed to be beaten in order for her to obey her husband.
When Shug is brought to them to get nursed back to health, Albert ceases the almost daily beatings. Around this time, Celie became more independent and realized she should be allowed to do whatever she wanted. Shug taught her how to be a womanand about love and life. Celie eventually was able to tell Albert what was what and left to do her own thing. She starts off as a timid dish rag and blossoms into an independent well-off woman.
Nettie is the beautiful and smart younger sister who tries to teach and protect her older sister. She loved to go to school to learn and then go home to teach everything to Celie. Nettie is kind and loving of all God's creatures. When Albert kicks her out of their house, she goes off in search of Celie's first two children. She ends up at a preacher's house and decides to live there as a nanny. Nettie knows the boy and girl are her sister's children but she keeps this a secret to keep the couple happy. She feels that the best solution is to become a part of this family and to just love the children. When the family decides to become missionaries in Africa, Nettie wants to go with them. During their time there, Nettie and the children become great friends and she reaches out to natives. Nettie is really a loving Cristian woman, with nothing but good in her heart. When the preacher's wife is on her deathbed, Nettie tells the truth about her relationship to the children. She feels sorry about lying to them but she thought it was best to remain anonymous to her niece and nephew in that aspect. The preacher then tells Nettie the truth about her father.Celie and Nettie's real father died in a fire and the man they lived with was really their stepfather. Nettie is confused and hurt by this revelation. Towards the beginning of the story, Nettie a little naive and innocent in her thinking. As the story unfolds, though, she begins to understand life and all the hardships that goes along with it. She also begins to understand that love does exist and it is a wonderful thing.
Both characters began the story as innocent and ignorant girls. By the end, they are well-rounded, hardened and independent women. They learned life-changing lessons and experienced hardships no one should have to endure. The reader can tell these characters are well rounded and evolve throughout the book.